00:00Mr. President, nearly 20 years ago I joined with then-Republican Senator Gordon Smith
00:05of Oregon to introduce the Iran Counterproliferation Act.
00:10Key provisions of that bill included significant tightening of petroleum-related sanctions,
00:16eventually became law, and helped push Iran to the negotiating table over its genuinely
00:22dangerous nuclear program.
00:24Those tough sanctions and unified Allied pressure, including from Russia and China, led to an
00:30agreement that contained Iran's nuclear program with aggressive international inspections.
00:37I remember hosting the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General many times in
00:43the ensuing years where he provided me updates on the inspections, while sometimes contentious
00:50they were in fact working.
00:52During those years, I also met directly with Iranian officials to discuss this agreement,
00:58to push them to end their support for regional proxies, and to help return missing and detained
01:03Americans in Iran.
01:06So I'm not naive about the Iranian regime's threat to the region and even its own people.
01:12And while the nuclear agreement wasn't perfect then, it was working.
01:16It allowed us to confront Iran on its otherwise troubling behavior without the threat of an
01:23Iranian nuclear weapon.
01:25We made progress.
01:28Yet during his first term, President Donald Trump walked away from this agreement and replaced
01:34it with nothing.
01:36Nothing.
01:37Nothing.
01:38Nothing.
01:38Nothing but bluster and wishful thinking.
01:41The President's approach did not stop Iran from pursuing its nuclear program, but it did
01:47undermine the coalition we'd created to counter Iran's nuclear aspirations.
01:52The mess we find ourselves in today, and it is a mess, is one the President has helped to create
01:58through his
01:59narcissism, impulsiveness, crude threats, and lack of planning.
02:06Mr. President, I've learned during the course of my service in Washington, it is far easier to get into a
02:12war than it is to get out of one.
02:14We find ourselves today facing a set of easily predictable policy problems, despite the stunning skill and bravery of America's
02:23military.
02:24The belligerent regime in Iran has not fallen.
02:28Already difficult leaders have been replaced by even harder hardliners, with the Revolutionary Guard gaining even more influence.
02:36Iran continues to rebuild its military capabilities and threaten our troops, interests, and allies in the region.
02:45The Strait of Hormuz, which had largely been free and open for the last several decades, is now being held
02:50hostage by the
02:52remaining Iranian regime, one that is brazenly still threatening ships and charging outrageous tolls for safe passage.
03:00If I asked the American people, randomly, what is this war all about, they would start by saying Iran is
03:08a bad actor.
03:09Agreed. No argument there.
03:11But what are we trying to achieve there?
03:13If they were puzzled by that question, I am too.
03:18Because you listen to how the President explained his strategy from the start.
03:23Let me tell you what the list contains partially.
03:26I don't know the complete list.
03:28Why did we do this?
03:30Regime change.
03:31That was announced almost immediately.
03:34Several days later, that was removed.
03:36Well, how about ballistic missiles?
03:38Ballistic missiles, for sure.
03:40And then later it was said, well, there's no capacity for ballistic missiles striking the United States or our friends
03:46in the near term.
03:48Then how about nuclear weapons?
03:50Well, we want to stop nuclear weapons.
03:52But didn't the President say six months ago when we attacked that we had obliterated their capacity to build nuclear
03:59weapons?
04:00He came back to say that was one of the agenda, too.
04:03When you go through it, the list keeps growing.
04:05The initial explanation of why we were there had never mentioned the Straits of Hormuz.
04:11Now it's a daily topic.
04:13One day we're fighting to keep them open.
04:16The next day we're fighting to keep them closed.
04:18I can't follow the bouncing ball.
04:20I don't know what the President's agenda is when it comes to the Straits of Hormuz.
04:24The fact that the President suggested last week that the United States would jointly collect payments for access to the
04:32Straits of Hormuz is beyond imaginations.
04:35These funds would be viewed as extortion funds by Iranian hardliners to rebuild the country's military and continue to fund
04:42its terrorist proxies.
04:43And after weekend talks in Pakistan, 21 hours with the Vice President went absolutely nowhere.
04:50President Trump announced a U.S. blockade of the Straits of Hormuz.
04:55At a time when our gasoline prices are skyrocketing.
04:59When the revenue from oil is, because of the new barrel prices, is reaching record levels.
05:05Not just for the Iranians' profit, but the profit of the Russians who use that to fight in Ukraine.
05:10For goodness sakes, who ever sat down at the table before this invasion and analyzed these possibilities?
05:17And what was their conclusion?
05:18Did we really go to war in Iran to worsen the free flow of goods in the critical Straits of
05:25Hormuz
05:26and enter into an extortion business with the Iranian regime?
05:30It's upside down.
05:32The equally productive move by the Ukrainians to try and squeeze the global economy has hurt American consumers and farmers
05:39and the global economy.
05:41A surprise to no one except President Trump.
05:44Americans are already struggling to make ends meet because of the President's cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act
05:50and his tariff taxes.
05:53He's doing everything he can to make this economy even worse.
05:56The increase in gas prices, now more than $4 a gallon in Chicago, may be too much for many to
06:03bear.
06:04While Americans suffer under high prices, our adversaries are reaping the benefits and profits.
06:10The increase in global oil prices and the desperate easing of some oil sanctions by Trump has been a gift
06:18to Vladimir Putin,
06:19who takes this revenue to renew his bloody war against the Ukrainians.
06:24Was that thought about before we invaded Iran?
06:27And let's not forget that Putin, who continues to snub any attempts by President Trump to end the war in
06:33Ukraine,
06:33has also been helping target American interests in the Gulf.
06:38He's not neutral.
06:40He's helping the Iranians at the expense of American soldiers.
06:43I cannot say it better than New York Times columnist, Middle East expert Tom Friedman.
06:49Here's what he wrote recently.
06:51Trump has no clue how to get out of the mess that he's created by starting a war without thinking
06:56through the implications.
06:58We desperately need a coherent plan to end this war, one that addresses the remaining highly enriched uranium still in
07:06Iran.
07:06We need a plan that stabilizes the U.S. and global economy and makes sure any further war is done
07:13with the consent of Congress.
07:15It's not too much to ask that this president, every president, who wants to engage in a war,
07:20follow Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the authority to declare war to Congress.
07:28Notably, it's for the American people to decide through their elected members of Congress.
07:33That's why I still support Senator Tammy Duckworth's war powers resolution, which will be on the floor this week.
07:39It's time for us to accept our constitutional responsibility and try to get this mess under control in Iran.
07:45And if there was ever a reminder of the importance of the Constitution for the role of its selected representatives,
07:51it's in the declaration of war.
07:53This current mess reminds us that those who wrote the Constitution had real wisdom,
07:58and those who are executing the plans for this war have not demonstrated that feature.
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